Sunday’s WWE Fastlane event is the final big stop before the two-night WrestleMania extravaganza in April. That puts Fastlane in a position to do a lot of heavy lifting to set up more stories and set up some of the biggest games of the year. In addition, Fastlane marks the start of WWE pay-per-view events streaming on Peacock after years of being exclusively available on WWE Network.
In the main event of the night, Roman Reigns will be out to continue his strongest run as a universal champion when he takes on Daniel Bryan. Edge has announced that he plans to challenge for the WrestleMania title, a choice he could make after winning the Royal Rumble. Edge could be involved in the game as a special rapist if he beats Jey Uso on Friday’s episode of SmackDown. If Uso wins, he will apply for the position, clearing the blades even more for Reigns.
Fastlane takes off Sunday, March 21 from the ThunderDome inside St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field in Florida. The event kicks off at 7pm ET following an hour-long kickoff show that starts at 6pm
Let’s take a look at how our experts think Fastlane will play out.
2021 Fastlane Prophecy
Interdepartmental Championship: Big E (c) vs Apollo teams
This is the single card game where the result is really up in the air. Theoretically, Crews has lost to Big E too many times to bring another L here, especially considering his revamped character and what looks like a big push coming. However, Big E has been a hero for less than three months, and there’s no good reason to take a title away from it ahead of the biggest event of the year without a major planned event pushing forward. Switching the title to Crews and back to Big E just three weeks later at WrestleMania feels like an unnecessary effort, so let’s stick to the chalk here. Select: Big E will retain the title – Adam Silverstein
It feels a little too fast to take the belt off Big E, but the Crews transformation feels like it needs a win. He lost again and again before he took a full step into heels, so if a full review does not mean he will win, how effective was the move? With two nights to fill for WrestleMania, it would be easy enough to put the belt on Crews before moving back to Big E in April, establishing that the change of Crews’ character was significant. Select: Apollo Crews won the title – Brent Brookhouse
Women’s Tag Team Competition: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair
WWE far too often gets its female singles heroes involved in a tag team title picture, and here we are again not only with two WrestleMania fighters working together unnecessarily but doing it for the second straight month. There’s no reason to change the titles here, and using a tag team loss as a sexual starter for Banks and Belair is as unnecessary as the game taking place in the first place. There are plenty of other teams that should go after the titles at WrestleMania, and there is no reason to duplicate a camp. Select: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler retain the titles – Brookhouse & Silverstein
Drew Carpenter vs Sheamus
MacIntyre is not missing here just makes sense. Sheamus has one of the best runs of his career in terms of inside performances and should be in the WWE title picture, but MacIntyre is already established as a Bobby Lashley opponent at WrestleMania . That means he shouldn’t take a loss here. The match could end in another effortless contest, leading to a Seamus vs MacIntyre match on the first night of WrestleMania with the winner getting Lashley on the second night – that’s just theory. If anyone raises their hand at Fastlane, it is MacIntyre. Select: Drew MacIntyre wins – Brookhouse & Silverstein
Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton
WWE aren’t going anywhere near Bliss and Orton is getting a “real game.” It’s very likely that this is just something complicated for The Fiend to make an incredible return, setting up an Orton vs Fiend game for WrestleMania. With that in mind, there will be no need to pick a winner here as the game is unlikely to have any endings. – Brookhouse
Universal Competition: Roman Kingdoms (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Even if WWE decides to add WWE Bryan to the WrestleMania match between Reigns and Edge, it would be horrible if they chose to take the title off the main heel champion heading into the biggest event of the year. If Edge or Bryan takes the title off Reigns, it will be done in front of a live crowd to “create WrestleMania Moment.” The action should be hot and it looks like Bryan is just about to win the belt, but between Camp Reigns and a special rapper (either Edge or Uso), there are plenty of ways to Bryan ends up taking the loss. Select: Roman Reigns retains the title – Brookhouse & Silverstein